A United States judge on Monday dismissed the criminal case accusing former president Donald Trump of illegally holding onto classified documents.
Florida-based U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision handed Trump another major legal victory as the Republican favourite seeks a return to the White House.
Cannon, who Trump nominated, ruled that Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, was unlawfully appointed to his role and did not have the authority to bring the case.
It marked another blockbuster legal victory for Trump, following the July 1 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that as a former president, he enjoyed immunity from prosecution for many of his actions in office.
Reuters reports that prosecutors are likely to appeal the ruling. Courts in other cases have repeatedly upheld the ability of the U.S. Justice Department to appoint special counsels to handle certain politically sensitive investigations.
But Cannonâs ruling throws the future of the case, which once posed serious legal peril for Trump, into doubt. Smith is also prosecuting Trump in federal court in Washington over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, but his lawyers have not made a similar challenge to the special counsel in that case.
In the documents case, Trump was indicted on charges that he willfully retained sensitive national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago social club after leaving office and obstructed government efforts to retrieve the material.
Two others, Trump personal aide Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Olivera were also charged with obstructing the investigation.
Trumpâs lawyers challenged the legal authority for Attorney General Merrick Garlandâs 2022 decision to appoint Smith to lead investigations into Trump. They argued the appointment violated the U.S. Constitution because his office was not created by Congress and he was not confirmed by the Senate.
Lawyers in Smithâs office disputed Trumpâs claims, arguing there was a well-settled practice of using special counsel to manage politically sensitive investigations.
The ruling is the latest and most consequential in a series of decisions from Cannon favouring Trumpâs defence and expressing scepticism about prosecutors’ conduct. The judge previously delayed a trial indefinitely while considering a flurry of Trumpâs legal challenges.
In an unusual move, she allowed three outside lawyers, including two who sided with Trump, to argue during a court hearing focused on Trumpâs challenge to Smithâs appointment.
Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas also provided a boost to Trumpâs challenge to the special counsel. In an opinion agreeing with the courtâs decision to grant Trump broad immunity in the election case, Thomas questioned whether Smithâs appointment was lawful using similar arguments to those made by Trumpâs lawyers.
Garland appointed Smith, a public corruption and international war crimes prosecutor, to give investigations into Trump a degree of independence from the Justice Department under Bidenâs administration.
Trump was the target of an apparent assassination attempt Saturday at a Pennsylvania rally, days before he was to accept the Republican nomination for a third time. A barrage of gunfire set off panic, and a bloodied Trump, who said he was shot in the ear, was surrounded by Secret Service and hurried to his SUV as he pumped his fist in a show of defiance.
Trumpâs campaign said the presumptive GOP nominee was doing âfineâ after the shooting, which he said pierced the upper part of his right ear.
The FBI early Sunday identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. The agency said the investigation remains active and ongoing.
Secret Service agents fatally shot Crooks, who attacked from an elevated position outside the rally venue at a farm show in Butler, Pennsylvania, the agency said.
Reuters
